Hebrew Bible

==Jewish commentaries==
{{Main|Jewish commentaries on the Bible}}
[[File:Tanach.jpg|thumb|Hebrew bible (Tanakh) in the collection of the [[Jewish Museum of Switzerland]], printed in [[Israel]] in 1962.]]
The major commentary used for the Chumash is the [[Rashi]] commentary. The Rashi commentary and [[David Altschuler|Metzudot]] commentary are the major commentaries for the Nach.<ref>{{cite book|title=Mishlei|publisher=Shai LaMora "Eshkol"}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=NACH – Shai LaMorah – All Volumes|url=https://www.monseyjudaica.com/product/nach-shai-lamorah-2|quote=Description. Nach metzudos on ...|access-date=2020-06-19|archive-date=2020-06-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200625095442/https://www.monseyjudaica.com/product/nach-shai-lamorah-2/|url-status=live}}</ref>

There are two major approaches to the study of, and commentary on, the Tanakh. In the Jewish community, the classical approach is a religious study of the Bible, where it is assumed that the Bible is divinely inspired.<ref name="JewishBible.NYT2007Ortho">{{cite news
|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/15/us/15beliefs.html
|title=Irreconcilable Differences in Bible's Interpretations
|quote=of divine origin
|author=Peter Steinfels
|date=September 15, 2007
|access-date=June 21, 2020
|archive-date=February 1, 2020
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201152736/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/15/us/15beliefs.html
|url-status=live
}}</ref> Another approach is to study the Bible as a human creation.<ref name="JewishBible.NYT2002Con">{{cite news
   |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
   |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/09/books/new-torah-for-modern-minds.html
   |quote=human rather than divine document
   |title=New Torah For Modern Minds
   |author=Michael Massing
   |date=March 9, 2002
   |access-date=June 21, 2020
   |archive-date=March 27, 2010
   |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327132240/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/09/books/new-torah-for-modern-minds.html
   |url-status=live
   }}</ref> In this approach, Biblical studies can be considered as a sub-field of religious studies. The latter practice, when applied to the Torah, is considered heresy<ref name="JewishBible.NYT2007unset">{{cite news
|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/books/review/Plotz-t.html
|title=Reading Is Believing, or Not
|quote=Modern scholars have also unmoored ... Most unsettling to religious Jews
|author=David Plotz
|date=September 16, 2007
|access-date=June 21, 2020
|archive-date=June 25, 2020
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200625061246/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/16/books/review/Plotz-t.html
|url-status=live
}}</ref> by the [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jewish]] community.<ref name="JewishBible.NYT1984">{{cite news
|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/30/magazine/american-jews-rediscover-orthodoxy.html
|title=American Jews Rediscover Orthodoxy
|quote=watered-down Judaism soon turns to water
|author=Natalie Gittelson
|date=September 30, 1984
|access-date=June 21, 2020
|archive-date=May 1, 2020
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501071143/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/30/magazine/american-jews-rediscover-orthodoxy.html
|url-status=live
}}</ref> As such, much modern day Bible commentary written by non-Orthodox authors is considered forbidden<ref name="JewishBible.NYT1982Potok">{{cite news
   |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]
   |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/03/magazine/the-bibles-inspired-art.html
   |title=The Bible's Inspired Art
   |quote=Song of Songs ... was entirely profane .. could not have been written by Solomon
   |author=Chaim Potok
   |author-link=Chaim Potok
   |date=October 3, 1982
   |access-date=June 22, 2020
   |archive-date=June 23, 2020
   |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200623085742/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/10/03/magazine/the-bibles-inspired-art.html
   |url-status=live
   }}</ref> by rabbis teaching in Orthodox [[yeshiva]]s. Some classical rabbinic commentators, such as [[Abraham Ibn Ezra]], [[Gersonides]], and [[Maimonides]], used many elements of contemporary biblical criticism, including their knowledge of history, science, and [[philology]]. Their use of historical and scientific analysis of the Bible was considered acceptable by historic Judaism due to the author's faith commitment to the idea that God revealed the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}

The [[Modern Orthodox Judaism|Modern Orthodox Jewish]] community allows for a wider array of biblical criticism to be used for biblical books outside of the Torah, and a few Orthodox commentaries now incorporate many of the techniques previously found in the
academic world,<ref>{{cite news
|newspaper=Jewish Link NJ
|url=https://www.jewishlinknj.com/features/22780-rabbi-hayyim-angel-s-13th-book-is-compilation-of-tanach-related-topics
|title=Rabbi Hayyim Angel's 13th Book Is Compilation of Tanach-Related Topics
|author=Mitchell First
|date=January 11, 2018
|access-date=June 21, 2020
|archive-date=April 8, 2023
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408153745/https://jewishlink.news/features/22780-rabbi-hayyim-angel-s-13th-book-is-compilation-of-tanach-related-topics
|url-status=live
}}</ref> e.g. the [[Da'at Miqra]] series. Non-Orthodox Jews, including those affiliated with Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism, accept both traditional and secular approaches to Bible studies. "[[Jewish commentaries on the Bible]]", discusses Jewish Tanakh commentaries from the [[Targums]] to classical [[rabbinic literature]], the [[midrash]] literature, the classical medieval commentators, and modern-day commentaries.